Policy & Regulation

They have asked the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, the chief anti-money-laundering regulator, to let them collect customer information and verify it after the loan application is processed in order to speed approvals.

Community advocates would like to see changes to the 1977 Community Reinvestment Act, but say regulators should suspend such efforts until the coronavirus pandemic has passed.

Lenders and community groups say it's a mistake for the banking agencies to move forward during a national crisis. But Comptroller of the Currency Joseph Otting says updated Community Reinvestment Act rules would speed relief to neighborhoods and small businesses.

The Federal Reserve is temporarily altering the growth restriction it placed on Wells Fargo in 2018 so that the bank can make additional loans to small and midsize business that need funding to weather the coronavirus pandemic.

The lending facility is for companies with more than 500 employees that are disqualified from the relief program for small businesses and too small for federal loans reserved for larger companies.

Lawmakers want to expand the two-day old small business loan program by another $250 billion; Calabria says nonbanks are exaggerating their financial woes as forbearance claims rise.

The coronavirus has accelerated a move toward a public option for digital wallets that would tie government authentication to payment transactions. If successful, this could be the catalyst for a national digital identity system.

OakNorth helps banks analyze credit, identify pandemic-related risks and forecast borrower issues before they turn into defaults.

Measures that delay the Current Expected Credit Losses standard and reduce a community bank capital ratio are temporary, but the industry now sees an opening to argue that they should be permanent.

Firms that spread big-dollar deposits to community banks have seen a rush in demand as small businesses seek emergency loans to weather the coronavirus pandemic.